MYTHOSLAIN: First ever trailer!!

Debuting last weekend during VOFT Dubs’s Charitystuck stream was the first ever video trailer for Mythoslain that I challenged myself with to show off the dizzying avenues ahead for the comic! I wrote a news post alongside with it since it was also a day after the 1 year anniversary of the neocities site launch. The trailer is set to some amazing music by Skip K.D. who I know from her amazing contributions to The Silt Verses podcast that also happens to have excellent taste making songs for (To Me) hits like Pathologic & The Locked Tomb (among many other awesome pieces). Easily my most powerful main blog Tumblr mutual. PLEASE go listen to everything else & support her work!!

The end of ACT 1 rapidly approaches, as does the 1 year anniversary of Mythoslain on 8/20 which feels absurd not because it’s come so quick, but because of the sheer distance I feel I’ve traveled with my characters. I get this strange sense that committing my everything to a project has twisted the typical sense most people get of time moving faster as they age. While many long work days doing art or writing seem to speed along, time itself feels stabilized & stretched. Back to the point, I still don’t know what to make the anniversary update/moment be just yet as I would hate to actively try to delay the end of ACT 1 until then, but one of my top lessons is that I can’t really predict how long it’ll take me in any case! The writing is basically finalized & formatted. I have what will be the final word count of ACT 1 alone, excluding in-panel text & secret pages, which is over 160k words…

Mythoslain is, & always will be, more than just the main comic run itself since beneath the cosmic tragicomedics, it’s about the unique eccentricities of OCs! Mayhaps you wonder if this is a form of COPE to justify my side quests making zines about it & other little exploits, but what if that’s the only path to it? I would loathe to have to neglect all other facets of creation & sacrifice what seems best fit for my story/characters with their specialized intents seeking to excavate what novel, specific ideas only OCs in an expansive fanwork genre-bending project can tap into created by yours truly. This is why the trailer, which technically depicts nothing that has happened actually On Page just yet, is all about Beginnings. ACT 1 is the beginning of myriad beginnings. Errant threads & sprouts that challenge notions of character & canonical so-called truths. Ahead of us, uncertain of precise arrival, are visual novel segments, sideways prose stories, deeply experimental prose comic innovations, conventional branches, interactive textual attacks, & more. I promise a great deal. Please trust the promise is held most gravely to, & for, myself.

RAT LORE: Do we FINALLY have time for it?

YES!

RAT LORE IS HERE! Or the site is no longer empty! To celebrate the 1 year anniversary of the Rat’s first formal debut outline in my Rat origins zine (One Truth One Lie Two Rats!), I released the official site of RAT LORE that contains all currently existing Rat Lore things from zines, info, records of games of Rat Hack played by the orchestrator of Rat Lore (me), offerings to the Lore by others, haphazard Rat dossiers, & stuffs!! It’s not fully polished as I need to find time to fill out the questions page & fix the Rat profiles, but I’ve got a lot on there including full (FREE) digital releases of Rat Hack, my absurdist hack of The Quiet Year, & the first issue of Rat Criticism that introduces concepts of literary theory from a Rat angle. Go check them out!

NEW THINGS: More in the ways of ZINES & OTHER stuff

ZINES YOU CAN READ IN FULL NOW:

READ TROLLDEER POLL ZINE HERE.

READ LABELS TAKE 2 ZINE HERE.

READ EACH RAT ZINE ON THEIR WIP PROFILES HERE.

APRIL ZINES: Yeah I BEAT it!

So, yeah I did finish out April Zines Take 2! I had two break days out of necessity, but since I made extra zines for one of the days & also for my podcast patrons, I still made a whole 30 zines for the entire month. Yay!

MISC: Important OTHER things

** I’m going to be giving a panel for Pesterfest, an online Homestuck con set for late July (24th to 26th)! The exact timeslot for my panel isn’t scheduled just yet, but my panel is entitled ‘Classpecting Concerns & Literary Systems’ all about applying literary theory concepts to classpects & how precise narrative angles would differ/constrict for different narrative structures. Stay tuned for more info!

** I’ve been having AMAZING times at events lately from zine fests, Goblin Markets, & a local Homestuck cupsleeve event hosted by Floridastuck that I attended yesterday & will attend again today (the day I’m writing/sending this!) I’ve been absolutely spoiled by beautiful art trades of my characters & so many touching comments on my work, it’s unbelievable!!

** Per my post on Insta for Labels Take 2, I’m contemplating retiring my Lesbian Gender & other zines about lesbianism due to my evolving perspective on my labels & identity. I explain more of my thoughts there, but ultimately I no longer feel I can label myself as a lesbian for it won’t remotely communicate my understanding. It also no longer feels like a personal proper fit. I know the zine has resonated with a lot of people, so I’m not quite sure what to do there! I’ll think on it more & not restock any more copies for the time being.

** I’m continuing to revamp / make 2nd editions of some of my zines that I feel are of in need of it. I’ve already done this for Pleasure Principle, Vivisection, Crush, Pathologic 2, Labels, Fictional Tastes, & Cringe is the Mind-Killer. I’m always in favor of revising/revisiting one’s work at any proper time, provided you don’t burn yourself out or do yourself another disservice in reworking something. That caveat is what stops me from redrawing panel art in Mythoslain that really bugs me now that I have better skill. I’m planning soon to also make 2nd versions of my Mythoslain intro zine, Eelgeb zine (to give it a poster/match with the other cast zines), Dreamer, Fav Games, Neurohauntings, Tell Me What to Do, & my About Me zine.

** Zine PACKS are something I introduced recently as themed bundles containing minizines, stickers, & sometimes mini prints. My current packs are Gaming (with ttrpg & video game related zines), Pathologic, Silly (just the weirdest of the bunch), Rat Lore (with all the intro zines), & a first set of Mythoslain cast zines (ft. Temjin, Yidrah, & Zazaei). I plan to make packs as I make the rest of the cast & then later maybe also offer other bigger discounted bundles to make it easier if anyone wanted to collect all of them! Of course, I need to finish the zines & the stickers I’m making to include, but the packs of three (when they are done) will be divided like this:

[1] Temjin / Yidrah / Zazaei

[2] Eelgeb / Xidobo / Ithaqu

[3] Hanjer / Optera / Ksakal

[4] Vhadre / Aiinyd / Lherit

I’m also planning to rework the supporter pack as I’m making new versions of the Mythoslain minizine / ad & the Eelgeb zine.

** Following the retiring of my old sticker designs, I cleared out all my old mystery bags with a big sale at DCAZ so I can now make a new set featuring a different selection! I’m considering having two types, one with exclusive zines to the packs & another with stuff I have on open stock. I did exclusive zines at first so people wouldn’t accidentally get duplicates, but maybe that wouldn’t be a general wish for the packs? Still considering. If I only do one type, it will be non-exclusives. I’m also still interested in making BIG zine packs that contain a half-letter zine or other bigger things, but I can’t find easy bags the right size for them & I might have to DIY something. Who knows!

MYTHOSLAIN: Back Again to share the character intro posts I designed!

They all also have updated profiles with these intros on site!